Methods and arrangements for frame transmissions

ABSTRACT

Logic to “loosely” manage synch frame transmissions in a synch network via the devices synched to the network that implement the logic. Logic may distributedly adjust the frequency of attempting synch frame transmissions without estimating the size of the neighborhood. Logic in devices of a synch network to let each device maintain a Transmission Window (TW). Logic to determine the frequency of attempting synch frame transmissions based upon the TW. Logic to increase TW if the device detects a synch frame transmission. Logic to decrease TW if the device successfully transmits a synch frame. Logic to balance power consumption and discovery timing by adjusting the decrease in TW responsive to a synch transmission in relation to the increase in TW responsive to detection of a synch transmitted by another device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments are in the field of wireless communications. Moreparticularly, embodiments are in the field of communications protocolsbetween wireless transmitters and receivers for transmitting synchframes.

BACKGROUND

Wi-Fi has become a ubiquitous wireless accessing technique for themobile devices, and this trend has led to the need for Wi-Fi enabledmobile devices to discover each other. To achieve this goal, a startingpoint is for the mobile devices in a neighborhood to agree on specificsynchronization timing. With the synchronization timing, the discoverywindow can be defined such that stations (STAs) can awake in thediscovery window to discover each other. The STAs that follow the samesynch timing will form a synch network.

Currently, in order to let a new device follow the timing of an existingsynch network, some devices in the synch network are required to attemptfor the synch frame transmission at each discovery window. Further, toavoid congestion, a device will do random backoff before each synchframe transmission, and if a device overhears a synch frame transmissionbefore the backoff period expires, it will not transmit the synch frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a wireless network comprising aplurality of communications devices;

FIG. 1A depicts an embodiment of a discovery period with a discoverywindow to synchronize timing in peer-to-peer communications;

FIG. 1B depicts an embodiment of a graph of transmission window sizeversus time;

FIG. 1C depicts an embodiment of table of results of transmission windowsizes for the simulation described with respect to FIG. 1B for differentnumbers of devices involved with peer-to-peer communications;

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of an apparatus to generate, transmit,receive and interpret frames for communications between wirelesscommunication devices;

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a flowchart to determine a transmissionwindow and a subsequent discovery period in which to attempt to transmita synch frame; and

FIGS. 4A-B depicts other embodiments of flowcharts to generate,transmit, receive and interpret frames for communications betweenwireless communication devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following is a detailed description of novel embodiments depicted inthe accompanying drawings. However, the amount of detail offered is notintended to limit anticipated variations of the described embodiments;on the contrary, the claims and detailed description are to cover allmodifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the present teachings as defined by the appended claims.The detailed descriptions below are designed to make such embodimentsunderstandable to a person having ordinary skill in the art.

References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,”“various embodiments,” etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) of theinvention so described may include a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes theparticular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated useof the phrase “in one embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the sameembodiment, although it may.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinaladjectives “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to describe a commonobject, merely indicate that different instances of like objects arebeing referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects sodescribed must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, inranking, or in any other manner.

Embodiments may enable a number of Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) enableddevices to synch Peer-to-Peer connectivity to allow users to connecttheir devices to, e.g., share, show, print, and synchronize content.Some embodiments may “loosely” manage synch frame transmissions in asynch network via the devices synced to the network that implement synchlogic. Synch logic may distributedly adjust the frequency of attemptingsynch frame transmissions without estimating the size of theneighborhood. Synch logic in devices of a synch network may let eachdevice maintain a Transmission Window (TW) and determine the frequencyof attempting synch frame transmissions based upon the TW. In manyembodiments, the synch logic may increase TW if the device detects asynch frame transmission and decrease TW if the device successfullytransmits a synch frame. In several embodiments, the synch logic maybalance power consumption and discovery timing by adjusting the decreasein TW responsive to a synch transmission in relation to the increase inTW responsive to detection of a synch transmitted by another device.

In some embodiments, the synch logic may implement a first function todecrease TW in response to transmitting a synch frame and a secondfunction to increase TW in response to an attempt to transmit a synchframe that does not result in the transmission of a synch frame due todetection of a synch frame transmitted by another device. In manyembodiments, the first function and/or second function may be linearfunctions or quadratic functions.

In several embodiments, communications devices in a synch network mayshare the responsibilities of transmitting synch frames to maintainsynchronization amongst the devices associated with the network. In manyembodiments, one or more of the devices may be mobile devices and thenetwork may be a peer-to-peer network. Mobile devices may operate off ofbattery power at least part of the time so embodiments may accommodatethe battery powered devices by establishing a distribution of the taskof transmitting synch frames. The distribution may allow multipledevices to awake for only some of the discovery periods rather thanawaking for all discovery periods.

In many embodiments, the synch logic may be implemented in each devicein a synch network. The synch logic may establish an initial value of TWand, in several embodiments, a minimum value for TW. In someembodiments, the value of TW may represent a number of discovery periodsthat a device may wait between attempts to transmit synch frames. Adevice may awake from a power-save mode, for instance, at a discoveryperiod. The synch logic of the device may establish a backoff period,which is the time period during a discovery window of the discoveryperiod during which the device will wait and monitor the medium forsynch frames prior to transmitting a synch frame. In severalembodiments, the backoff period may be randomly determined to be a timebetween the beginning and end of the discovery window.

If the device detects a synch frame transmitted by another device in thesynch network prior to the expiration of the backoff period, the devicemay not transmit a synch frame and the synch logic may increase thevalue of TW. In many embodiments, the synch logic may increase the valueof TW based upon an assumption that there may be many devices in theneighborhood associated with the synch network. The increase in thevalue of TW increases the potential wait between synch frametransmission attempts by the device. In several embodiments, theincrease in TW may be in accordance with a predetermined function, I(x).In some embodiments, constants in the I(x) function or the function I(x)itself may be varied to adjust a balance between power consumption anddiscovery timing. In other embodiments, the I(x) functions may varydevice to device in the synch network based upon a predetermined balanceof power consumption and discovery timing. In further embodiments, thedevices in the synch network may all adhere to the same, specified I(x)function to increase TW.

If the device does not detect a synch frame prior to the expiration ofthe backoff period, the device may transmit a synch frame and the synchlogic may decrease the value of TW. In many embodiments, the synch logicmay decrease the value of TW based upon an assumption that there may notbe many devices in the neighborhood associated with the synch network.The decrease in the value of TW decreases the potential wait betweensynch frame transmission attempts by the device. If the device is theonly device in the synch network, for instance, then the value of TW forthe device may decrease to TW equals one discovery period meaning thatthe device may attempt to transmit a synch frame every discovery period.In several embodiments, the decrease in TW may be in accordance with apredetermined function D(x). In some embodiments, constants in the D(x)function or the function D(x) itself may be varied to adjust a balancebetween power consumption and discovery timing. In other embodiments,the D(x) function may vary device to device in the synch network basedupon a predetermined balance of power consumption and discovery timing.In further embodiments, the devices in the synch network may all adhereto the same, specified D(x) function to decrease TW.

In some embodiments, the synch logic may determine the next discoveryperiod that the device may attempt to transmit a synch frame based uponthe current value of TW. After the value of TW is increased ordecreased, for instance, some embodiments may determine a selectionnumber to determine the number of discovery periods before the nextattempt to transmit a synch frame. In some embodiments, the synch logicmay determine a selection number by generating a random number (r) thatis an integer between the minimum TW and the current TW. In otherembodiments, the synch logic may determine a selection number byselecting a subsequent number (r) in a predetermined sequence ofnumbers. The synch logic may then use the selection number (r) toevaluate a function to determine the time period to wait before the nextattempt to transmit a synch frame. In several embodiments, the synchlogic may implement a function such as Wait period equals the time ofthe latest synch frame timing (t) plus the selection number (r) timesthe discovery period (Wait Period=t+rT).

In several embodiments, the value of TWmin depends on the requirement ofdiscovery time. If a new device needs to discover the synch networkfaster, the value of TWmin should be smaller. If a new device does notneed to discovery the faster, the value of TWmin can be larger.

The functions D(x) and I(x) may determine how fast the synchtransmissions are spread when there are many devices and how quickly astation adjusts the TW when some devices leave the network. Someembodiments implement an additive increase and multiplicative decreasesuch as an increase function of I(x)=x+1 and a decrease function ofD(x)=x/2.

Some embodiments implement Institute of Electrical and ElectronicEngineers (IEEE) 802.11 systems such as IEEE 802.11ah systems and othersystems that operate in accordance with standards such as the IEEE802.11-2012, IEEE Standard for Information technology—Telecommunicationsand information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan areanetworks—Specific requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium AccessControl (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications(http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/download/802.11-2012.pdf).

Several embodiments comprise devices such as routers, switches, servers,workstations, netbooks, mobile devices (Laptop, Smart Phone, Tablet, andthe like), as well as sensors, meters, controls, instruments, monitors,appliances, and the like.

Logic, modules, devices, and interfaces herein described may performfunctions that may be implemented in hardware and/or code. Hardwareand/or code may comprise software, firmware, microcode, processors,state machines, chipsets, or combinations thereof designed to accomplishthe functionality.

Embodiments may facilitate wireless communications. Some embodiments maycomprise low power wireless communications like Bluetooth®, wirelesslocal area networks (WLANs), wireless metropolitan area networks(WMANs), wireless personal area networks (WPAN), cellular networks,communications in networks, messaging systems, and smart-devices tofacilitate interaction between such devices. Furthermore, some wirelessembodiments may incorporate a single antenna while other embodiments mayemploy multiple antennas. The one or more antennas may couple with aprocessor and a radio to transmit and/or receive radio waves. Forinstance, multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) is the use of radiochannels carrying signals via multiple antennas at both the transmitterand receiver to improve communication performance.

While some of the specific embodiments described below will referencethe embodiments with specific configurations, those of skill in the artwill realize that embodiments of the present disclosure mayadvantageously be implemented with other configurations with similarissues or problems.

Turning now to FIG. 1, there is shown an embodiment of a wirelesscommunication system 1000. The wireless communication system 1000comprises a communications device 1010 that may be wire line andwirelessly connected to a network 1005. In many embodiments, the network1005 may represent a logical affiliation of the devices 1010, 1030,1050, and 1055 in a synch network such as an association with apeer-to-peer (P2P) group. In other embodiments, the devices 1010, 1030,1050, and 1055 may physically connect to a network infrastructure buthave the capabilities of peer-to-peer communications.

The communications device 1010 may communicate wirelessly with aplurality of communication devices 1030, 1050, and 1055. Thecommunications device 1010 may comprise a mobile phone. Thecommunications device 1030 may comprise a low power communicationsdevice such as a consumer electronics device, a personal mobile device,or the like. And communications devices 1050 and 1055 may comprisesensors, stations, access points, hubs, switches, routers, computers,laptops, netbooks, cellular phones, smart phones, PDAs (Personal DigitalAssistants), or other wireless-capable devices. Thus, communicationsdevices may be mobile or fixed.

Initially, the communications devices 1010 and 1030 may comprise synchlogic 1013, 1033 that determines to attempt to transmit synch frames1014, 1034 at the same discovery period 1115 in a discovery window 1110illustrated in FIG. 1A. The synch frames 1014, 1034 may be similar tobeacon frames but may comprise shortened or may comprise less fields. Inthe present embodiment, the synch frame may comprise a networkidentification for the synch network as well as, in some embodiments,timing coordination to identify the synchronization timing 1120.

The communications devices 1010 and 1030 may awake from a power-savemode to an active mode prior to the start of the discovery window andthe synch logic 1013, 1033 may determine backoffs for the respectivecommunications devices 1010, 1030. In many embodiments, the synch logic1013,1033 may determine the backoffs as a random time period that iswithin the bounds of the discovery window. The bounds of the discoverywindow 1010 may be predetermined per a specification or determined by acommunications device 1010, 1030 and communicated to other devices ofthe synch network via the synch frames 1013, 1033 and stored in memory1011, 1031.

In several embodiments, the randomness of the generation of the backoffscause the backoffs generated by the communications devices 1010, 1030 tobe different so that the backoff of, e.g., communications device 1010expires prior to the expiration of the backoff of the communicationsdevice 1030. In several embodiments, if the backoff for thecommunications device 1010 expires and the communications device 1010did not detect transmission of another synch frame 1034 within thebackoff period, the communications device 1010 may proceed to transmitthe synch frame 1014. In response to a successful attempt to transmit asynch frame 1014, the synch logic 1013 may modify the value of atransmission window (TW) maintained by the communications device 1010in, e.g., memory 1011. For example, in some embodiments, upontransmitting a synch frame 1014, synch logic 1013 may decrease the valueof the TW. In several embodiments, the synch logic 1014 may determinethat the new value of TW equals the current value of TW divided by aconstant alpha. In some embodiments, the function may be linear and, inother embodiments, the function may be quadratic. In some embodiments,the value of alpha may be a constant, integer such as 1, 2, 3, 4, . . .. In several embodiments, the value of alpha may be predetermined. Inother embodiments, the value of alpha may be adjustable and may beincreased in an effort to reduce power consumption or decreased in aneffort to reduce discovery timing.

The communications device 1030 may detect the transmission of the synchframe 1014 transmitted by the communications device 1010 during thebackoff period of the communications device 1030 during the discoverywindow 1110. In several embodiments, the synch logic 1033 may determineto terminate the attempt to transmit a synch frame 1034 during thediscovery window 1110 in response to detecting the transmission of thesynch frame 1014 for the synch network. In response to a terminatedattempt to transmit a synch frame 1034, the synch logic 1033 may modifythe value of a transmission window (TW) maintained by the communicationsdevice 1030 in, e.g., memory 1031. For example, in many embodiments,upon receiving the synch frame 1014, the synch logic 1033 may increasethe value of the TW. In some embodiments, the synch logic 1034 maydetermine that the new value of TW equals the current value of TWdivided by a constant beta. In some embodiments, the function may belinear and in other embodiments, the function may be quadratic. In manyembodiments, the value of beta may be a constant, integer such as 1, 2,3, 4, . . . . In several embodiments, the value of beta may bepredetermined. In other embodiments, the value of beta may be adjustableand may be increased in an effort to reduce discovery timing within thesynch network or reduced to reduce power consumption.

In some embodiments, the synch logic 1013, 1033 may determine the timingfor the next attempt to transmit a synch frame 1014, 1034 based upon thenew values of TW, respectively. In other words, the communicationsdevices 1010 and 1030 maintain different values of TW to facilitatedistribution of the communications devices to different discoveryperiods to attempt to transmit synch frames 1014, 1034.

In some embodiments, the new value of TW may be implemented in afunction to determine the next discovery period in which to attempt totransmit the synch frames 1014, 1034. For instance, the synch logic1013, 1033 may determine the discovery period as the time of the latestsynch frame 1013, 1034 timing (t) plus a random number (r) multiplied bythe discovery period (T), or t+rT. In some embodiments, the randomnumber may be a random number bounded between a minimum TW and thecurrent value of TW. In other embodiments, a different function may beused to calculate the next discovery period in which to attempt totransmit the synch frame 1014, 1034. For instance, in one embodiment,the next discovery period may be t+(TW)T. In another embodiment, thenext discovery period may be t+alpha(TW)T, wherein alpha is a constantthat may be an integer or a fraction.

In many embodiments, the calculation for the next discovery period maybe adjusted to reduce power consumption or to reduce discovery timing.For instance, modifying the calculation to increase the time period tothe next discovery window may reduce power consumption whereas modifyingthe calculation to decrease the time period to the next discovery windowmay reduce discovery timing. In several embodiments, the adjustments ofcalculations of the new TW and the next discovery window can adjust abalance between power reduction and reduction of discovery timing. Forinstance, if the time period to the next discovery period is larger, thecommunications device can enter a power-save mode for a longer period oftime but remaining in the power-save mode for the longer period of timecould increase the probability that a synch frame is not transmittedduring one of the intermediate discovery periods, causing othercommunications devices to wait in an awake mode or active mode forlonger periods of time. Similarly, if the time period to the nextdiscovery period is shorter, the communications device can enter apower-save mode for a shorter period of time, which increases powerconsumption but reduces the probability that a synch frame is nottransmitted during one of the intermediate discovery periods.

The communication devices 1010 and 1030 comprise memory 1011 and 1031,and Media Access Control (MAC) sublayer logic 1018 and 1038,respectively. The memory 1011 and 1031 may comprise a storage mediumsuch as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), read only memory (ROM),buffers, registers, cache, flash memory, hard disk drives, solid-statedrives, or the like. The memory 1011 and 1031 may store the framesand/or frame structures, or portions thereof such as a synch, beacon,device discovery request, device discovery response, service query,service response, permission request, and permission response frames.

The MAC sublayer logic 1018, 1038 may comprise logic to implementfunctionality of the MAC sublayer of the data link layer of thecommunications device 1010, 1030. The MAC sublayer logic 1018, 1038 maygenerate the frames such as management frames and the physical layerlogic 1019, 1039 may generate physical layer protocol data units (PPDUs)based upon the frames. In the present embodiment, for instance, the MACsublayer logic 1018, 1038 may comprise the synch logic 1013 and 1033 togenerate synch frames 1014, 1034 and the data unit builders of thephysical layer logic 1019, 1039 may prepend the frames with preambles togenerate PPDUs for transmission via a physical layer device such as thetransceivers (RX/TX) 1020 and 1040.

The communications devices 1010, 1030, 1050, and 1055 may each comprisea transceiver such as transceivers 1020 and 1040. Each transceiver 1020,1040 comprises a radio 1025, 1045 comprising an RF transmitter and an RFreceiver. Each RF transmitter impresses digital data onto an RFfrequency for transmission of the data by electromagnetic radiation. AnRF receiver receives electromagnetic energy at an RF frequency andextracts the digital data therefrom.

FIG. 1 may depict a number of different embodiments including aMultiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO) system with, e.g., four spatialstreams, and may depict degenerate systems in which one or more of thecommunications devices 1010, 1030, 1050, and 1055 comprise a receiverand/or a transmitter with a single antenna including a Single-Input,Single Output (SISO) system, a Single-Input, Multiple Output (SIMO)system, and a Multiple-Input, Single Output (MISO) system. In thealternative, FIG. 1 may depict transceivers that include multipleantennas and that may be capable of multiple-user MIMO (MU-MIMO)operation.

In many embodiments, transceivers 1020 and 1040 implement orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). OFDM is a method of encodingdigital data on multiple carrier frequencies. OFDM is afrequency-division multiplexing scheme used as a digital multi-carriermodulation method. A large number of closely spaced orthogonalsub-carrier signals are used to carry data. The data is divided intoseveral parallel data streams or channels, one for each sub-carrier.Each sub-carrier is modulated with a modulation scheme at a low symbolrate, maintaining total data rates similar to conventionalsingle-carrier modulation schemes in the same bandwidth.

An OFDM system uses several carriers, or “tones,” for functionsincluding data, pilot, guard, and nulling. Data tones are used totransfer information between the transmitter and receiver via one of thechannels. Pilot tones are used to maintain the channels, and may provideinformation about time/frequency and channel tracking. And guard tonesmay help the signal conform to a spectral mask. The nulling of thedirect component (DC) may be used to simplify direct conversion receiverdesigns. And guard intervals may be inserted between symbols such asbetween every OFDM symbol as well as between the short training field(STF) and long training field (LTF) symbols in the front end of thetransmitter during transmission to avoid inter-symbol interference(ISI), which might result from multi-path distortion.

Each transceiver 1020, 1040 comprises a radio 1025, 1045 comprising anRF transmitter and an RF receiver. The RF transmitter comprises an OFDMmodule 1022, which impresses digital data, OFDM symbols encoded withtones, onto RF frequencies, also referred to as sub-carriers, fortransmission of the data by electromagnetic radiation. In the presentembodiment, the OFDM module 1022 may impress the digital data as OFDMsymbols encoded with tones onto the sub-carriers to for transmission.The OFDM module 1022 may transform information signals into signals tobe transmitted via the radio 1025, 1045 to elements of an antenna array1024.

In some embodiments, the communications device 1010 optionally comprisesa Digital Beam Former (DBF) 1022, as indicated by the dashed lines. TheDBF 1022 transforms information signals into signals to be applied toelements of an antenna array 1024. The antenna array 1024 is an array ofindividual, separately excitable antenna elements. The signals appliedto the elements of the antenna array 1024 cause the antenna array 1024to radiate spatial channels. Each spatial channel so formed may carryinformation to one or more of the communications devices 1030, 1050, and1055. Similarly, the communications device 1030 comprises a transceiver1040 to receive and transmit signals from and to the communicationsdevice 1010. The transceiver 1040 may comprise an antenna array 1044and, optionally, a DBF 1042.

FIGS. 1B and 1C depict embodiments of a graph for TW versus synchtransmission attempts and results of a simulation for different numbersof devices associated with a synch network. That I(x)=x+alpha andD(x)=x/beta. Assuming that N devices are joined in a sync network, andevery device can overhear the transmission from all other devices. Theevolution of TW before each attempt as shown in FIG. 1B. Let TWi be thewindow size before ith attempt. At each attempt, assume that a devicewill transmit the sync frame with probability p, and this probability isindependent of the window size. The situation can be characterized as:

TWi=(TWi−1/α)1win+(TWi−1+β)1lose

wherein 1win and 1lose are the indicator random variables of winning andlosing the transmission. The expectation on both sides provides:

E[TWi]=(E[TWi−1]/α)p+(E[TWi−1]+β)(1−p).

Since in stationary, E[TWi]=E[TWi-1]=E[TW]. We can then show that:

E[TW]=αβ(1/p−1)/(α−1)

Furthermore, it is known that the value of p=1/(1+expected number ofother attempt devices at a attempt). For a device, when the transmissionwindow is TW, the probability that it attempts at a discovery window is1/TW, which will be E[1/TW] on average.

Since there are N−1 other devices, the expected number of other attemptdevices at a discovery window is (N−1)E[1/TW]. Hence:

E[TW]=αβ(N−1)E[1/TW]/(α−1)

In accordance with Jensen's inequality, named after the Danishmathematician Johan Jensen: 2(N−1)/E[TW]<=E[TW].

In accordance with Kantrovich's inequality, named after the economist,mathematician, and Nobel Prize winner Leonid Kantorovich:

E[TW]<=2(N−1)((a+b)̂2)/(4abE[TW])

Wherein a and b is the minimum and maximum of the window size. Sincea=1, and the upper bound can be approximated as:

E[TW]<=2(N−1)b/(4E[TW])

As a result:

SQRT(αβ(N−1)/(α−1))<=E[TW]<=SQRT(αβ(N−1)b/((α−1)4))

FIG. 1B illustrates values for these equations as well as the expectedTW, E[TW], for different numbers of devices (N) with alpha (α) equal toone and beta (β) equal to 2. For instance, for a synch network with 75devices (N=75), the expected average value for TW is 16(E[TW]=16) andfor a network with 150 devices (N=150), the expected value of TW is22.98 (E[TW]=22.98) as illustrated in the table. Since the values for TWalways increase or decrease in response to attempts to transmit a synchframe, the expected values of TW may be expected average values whilethe actual values should rise to near that expected values and reach asteady-state that has an average of approximately the expected value.Note that these values are based on the assumptions discussed above.

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of an apparatus to generate, transmit,receive, and interpret frames such as synch frames, beacon frames,device discovery request/response frames, permission request/responseframes, synch frames, and other P2P related frames. The apparatuscomprises a transceiver 200 coupled with Medium Access Control (MAC)sublayer logic 201. The MAC sublayer logic 201 may determine a frame andthe physical layer (PHY) logic 250 may determine the PPDU by prependingthe frame or multiple frames, MAC protocol data units (MPDUs), with apreamble to transmit via transceiver 200.

In many embodiments, the MAC sublayer logic 201 may comprise a framebuilder to generate frames and a synch logic 290 such as the synch logic1014 and 1034 described in conjunction with FIG. 1 to loosely managesynch frame transmissions by the MAC sublayer logic 201 to distributedlyadjust the frequency of the synch frame transmissions based upon thenumber of devices in a synch network without determining the number ofdevices in the synch network (or the size of the neighborhood). The PHYlogic 250 may comprise a data unit builder 203. The data unit builder203 may determine a preamble to prepend the MPDU or more than one MPDUsto generate a PPDU. In many embodiments, the data unit builder 203 maycreate the preamble based upon communications parameters chosen throughinteraction with a destination communications device. The preamble maycomprise training sequences such a short training field (STF) and a longtraining field (LTF) to provide initial channel updates to the receivingdevice to allow the receiving device to update weight coefficients for aweighting function implemented by an equalizer in the receiving device.

The transceiver 200 comprises a receiver 204 and a transmitter 206. Thetransmitter 206 may comprise one or more of an encoder 208, a modulator210, an OFDM 212, and a DBF 214. The encoder 208 of transmitter 206receives and encodes data destined for transmission from the MACsublayer logic 202 with, e.g., a binary convolutional coding (BCC), alow density parity check coding (LDPC), and/or the like. The modulator210 may receive data from encoder 208 and may impress the received datablocks onto a sinusoid of a selected frequency via, e.g., mapping thedata blocks into a corresponding set of discrete amplitudes of thesinusoid, or a set of discrete phases of the sinusoid, or a set ofdiscrete frequency shifts relative to the frequency of the sinusoid.

The output of modulator 209 is fed to an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing (OFDM) module 212. The OFDM module 212 may comprise aspace-time block coding (STBC) module 211, a digital beamforming (DBF)module 214, and an inverse, fast Fourier transform (IFFT) module 215.The STBC module 211 may receive constellation points from the modulator209 corresponding to one or more spatial streams and may spread thespatial streams to a greater number of space-time streams (alsogenerally referred to as data streams). In some embodiments, the STBC211 may be controlled to pass through the spatial streams for situationsin which, e.g., the number of spatial streams is the maximum number ofspace-time streams. Further embodiments may omit the STBC.

The OFDM module 212 impresses or maps the modulated data formed as OFDMsymbols onto a plurality of orthogonal sub-carriers so the OFDM symbolsare encoded with the sub-carriers or tones. In some embodiments, theOFDM symbols are fed to the Digital Beam Forming (DBF) module 214.Generally, digital beam forming uses digital signal processingalgorithms that operate on the signals received by, and transmittedfrom, an array of antenna elements.

The Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) module 215 may perform aninverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) on the OFDM symbols. Theoutput of the IFFT module 215 may enter the transmitter front end 240.The transmitter front end 240 may comprise a radio 242 with a poweramplifier (PA) 244 to amplify the signal and prepare the signal fortransmission via the antenna array 218. In some embodiments, the radiomay not comprise a power amplifier 244 or may be capable of bypassingthe power amplifier 244 if such amplification is unnecessary. The signalmay be up-converted to a higher carrying frequency or may be performedintegrally with up-conversion. Shifting the signal to a much higherfrequency before transmission enables use of an antenna array ofpractical dimensions. That is, the higher the transmission frequency,the smaller the antenna can be. Thus, an up-converter multiplies themodulated waveform by a sinusoid to obtain a signal with a carrierfrequency that is the sum of the central frequency of the waveform andthe frequency of the sinusoid.

The transceiver 200 may also comprise duplexers 216 connected to antennaarray 218. Thus, in this embodiment, a single antenna array is used forboth transmission and reception. When transmitting, the signal passesthrough duplexers 216 and drives the antenna with the up-convertedinformation-bearing signal. During transmission, the duplexers 216prevent the signals to be transmitted from entering receiver 204. Whenreceiving, information bearing signals received by the antenna arraypass through duplexers 216 to deliver the signal from the antenna arrayto receiver 204. The duplexers 216 then prevent the received signalsfrom entering transmitter 206. Thus, duplexers 216 operate as switchesto alternately connect the antenna array elements to the receiver 204and the transmitter 206.

The antenna array 218 radiates the information bearing signals into atime-varying, spatial distribution of electromagnetic energy that can bereceived by an antenna of a receiver. The receiver can then extract theinformation of the received signal. In other embodiments, thetransceiver 200 may comprise one or more antennas rather than antennaarrays and, in several embodiments, the receiver 204 and the transmitter206 may comprise their own antennas or antenna arrays.

The transceiver 200 may comprise a receiver 204 for receiving,demodulating, and decoding information bearing communication signalssuch as synch frames transmitted by other stations. The receiver 204 maycomprise a receiver front-end to detect the signal, detect the start ofthe packet, remove the carrier frequency, and amplify the subcarriersvia a radio 252 with a low noise amplifier (LNA) 254. The communicationsignals may comprise, e.g., 32 tones on a 1 MHz carrier frequency. Thereceiver 204 may comprise a fast Fourier transform (FFT) module 219. TheFFT module 219 may transform the communication signals from the timedomain to the frequency domain.

The receiver 204 may also comprise an OFDM module 222, a demodulator224, a deinterleaver 225, and a decoder 226, and the equalizer 258 mayoutput the weighted data signals for the OFDM packet to the OFDM module222. The OFDM 222 extracts signal information as OFDM symbols from theplurality of subcarriers onto which information-bearing communicationsignals are modulated.

The OFDM module 222 may comprise a DBF module 220, and an STBC module221. The received signals are fed from the equalizer to the DBF module220 transforms N antenna signals into L information signals. And theSTBC module 221 may transform the data streams from the space-timestreams to spatial streams.

The demodulator 224 demodulates the spatial streams. Demodulation is theprocess of extracting data from the spatial streams to producedemodulated spatial streams. The method of demodulation depends on themethod by which the information is modulated onto the received carriersignal and such information is included in the transmission vector(TXVECTOR) included in the communication signal. Thus, for example, ifthe modulation is BPSK, demodulation involves phase detection to convertphase information to a binary sequence. Demodulation provides to thedeinterleaver 225 a sequence of bits of information.

The deinterleaver 225 may deinterleave the sequence of bits ofinformation. For instance, the deinterleaver 225 may store the sequenceof bits in columns in memory and remove or output the bits from thememory in rows to deinterleave the bits of information. The decoder 226decodes the deinterleaved data from the demodulator 224 and transmitsthe decoded information, the MPDU, to the MAC sublayer logic 202.

Persons of skill in the art will recognize that a transceiver maycomprise numerous additional functions not shown in FIG. 2 and that thereceiver 204 and transmitter 206 can be distinct devices rather thanbeing packaged as one transceiver. For instance, embodiments of atransceiver may comprise a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), areference oscillator, filtering circuitry, synchronization circuitry, aninterleaver and a deinterleaver, possibly multiple frequency conversionstages and multiple amplification stages, etc. Further, some of thefunctions shown in FIG. 2 may be integrated. For example, digital beamforming may be integrated with orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing.

The MAC sublayer logic 201 may parse the MPDU based upon a formatdefined in the communications device for a frame to determine theparticular type of frame by determining the type value and the subtypevalue. The MAC sublayer logic 201 may then parse and interpret theremainder of MPDU based upon the definition for the frame of theparticular type and subtype indicated in the MAC header. For instance,if the frame is a management frame such as a synch frame, the frame bodymay include parameters to set for communication preferences for thesource station of the transmission. Based upon the receipt of the synchframe, the synch logic 290 may determine to terminate the attemptedtransmission of a synch frame during the same discovery window andadjust the value of TW to account for the terminated attempt.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a flowchart 300 by which synch logicmay manage the attempted synch transmission of a device in a synchnetwork. The flowchart 300 begins with setting an initial transmissionwindow (TW) (element 305). In some embodiments, the device may comprisea default initial setting for TW that may be used when the device firstsynchs with a synch network. In further embodiments, the device mayreceive a default value for TW via, e.g., a beacon frame, synch frame,or other management frame.

After setting the initial value of TW, the synch logic may determine aselection number (element 310). For instance, the selection number maybe a number used to select a time to the next discovery period in whichthe device may attempt to transmit a synch frame. The synch logic maydetermine the selection number by, e.g., determining a random numberbounded between a minimum TW such as 1 discovery period and the currentvalue of TW. In such embodiments, the random number may represent anumber of discovery periods and may be multiplied by the discoveryperiod to determine an amount of time to wait before the next discoveryperiod (element 315). In further embodiments, the selection number maybe a number chosen from a predetermined sequence of numbers between aminimum TW such as 1 discovery period and the current value of TW(element 315). The predetermined sequence of numbers may be designed tofacilitate distribution of duties to attempt to transmit a synch frameamongst devices in the synch network.

Once the synch logic determines the time period to the next discoveryperiod to attempt to transmit a synch frame, the device may enter apower-save mode and awake at the discovery window of the discoveryperiod (element 320). For instance, the device may be a low power devicethat operates on battery power so the device may preserve power byentering the power-save mode until just before the discovery period.

Upon awaking from the power-save mode, the synch logic may determine abackoff period to wait during a discovery window of the discovery periodprior to transmitting the synch frame (element 325). In manyembodiments, the backoff period may be a random time period.

If the device receives a synch frame from another device in the samesynch network, the synch logic may increase the value of TW (element340) and proceed to element 310 to repeat the process starting withdetermining a selection number. On the other hand, if the device doesnot receive a synch frame from another device in the same synch networkduring the backoff period, the synch logic may transmit a synch frameand decrease the value of TW (element 335). After decreasing the valueof TW, the synch logic may repeat the process starting with determininga selection number at element 310.

FIGS. 4A-B depict embodiments of flowcharts 400 and 450 to transmit,receive, and interpret communications with a frame. Referring to FIG.4A, the flowchart 400 may begin with receiving a synch frame from thesynch logic of the MAC sublayer logic. The MAC sublayer logic of thecommunications device may generate the frame as a management frame totransmit to other devices of a synch network and may pass the frame asan MAC protocol data unit (MPDU) to a PHY logic that transforms the datainto a packet that can be transmitted to the access point. The PHY logicmay generate a preamble to prepend the PHY service data unit (PSDU) (theMPDU from the frame builder) to form a PHY protocol data unit (PPDU) fortransmission (element 405). In some embodiments, more than one MPDU maybe included in a PPDU.

The PPDU may then be transmitted to the physical layer device such asthe transmitter 206 in FIG. 2 or the transceiver 1020, 1040 in FIG. 1 sothe PPDU may be converted to a communication signal (element 410). Thetransmitter may then transmit the communication signal via the antenna(element 415).

Referring to FIG. 4B, the flowchart 450 begins with a receiver of adevice in a synch network such as the receiver 204 in FIG. 2 receiving acommunication signal via one or more antenna(s) such as an antennaelement of antenna array 218 (element 455). The receiver may convert thecommunication signal into an MPDU in accordance with the processdescribed in the preamble (element 460). More specifically, the receivedsignal is fed from the one or more antennas to a DBF such as the DBF220. The DBF transforms the antenna signals into information signals.The output of the DBF is fed to OFDM such as the OFDM 222. The OFDMextracts signal information from the plurality of subcarriers onto whichinformation-bearing signals are modulated. Then, the demodulator such asthe demodulator 224 demodulates the signal information via, e.g., BPSK,16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, QPSK, or SQPSK. And the decoder such as thedecoder 226 decodes the signal information from the demodulator via,e.g., BCC or LDPC, to extract the MPDU (element 460) and transmits theMPDU to MAC sublayer logic such as MAC sublayer logic 202 (element 465).

The MAC sublayer logic may determine frame field values from the MPDU(element 470) such as the management frame fields. For instance, the MACsublayer logic may determine frame field values such as the type andsubtype field values of the synch frame. Synch logic of the MAC sublayerlogic may determine that the MPDU comprises a synch frame so the synchlogic may terminate an attempt to transmit a synch frame by the device.In many embodiments, the synch logic may then update a value of thetransmission window (TW) based upon the terminated attempt to transmitthe synch frame and determine the next discovery period in which thedevice may attempt to transmit a synch frame.

In some embodiments, some or all of the features described above and inthe claims may be implemented in one embodiment. For instance,alternative features may be implemented as alternatives in an embodimentalong with logic or selectable preference to determine which alternativeto implement. Some embodiments with features that are not mutuallyexclusive may also include logic or a selectable preference to activateor deactivate one or more of the features. For instance, some featuresmay be selected at the time of manufacture by including or removing acircuit pathway or transistor. Further features may be selected at thetime of deployment or after deployment via logic or a selectablepreference such as a dipswitch, e-fuse, or the like. Still furtherfeatures may be selected by a user after via a selectable preferencesuch as a software preference, an e-fuse, or the like.

Another embodiment is implemented as a program product for implementingsystems and methods described with reference to FIGS. 1-4. Someembodiments can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment, or an embodiment containing both hardwareand software elements. One embodiment is implemented in software, whichincludes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode,etc.

Furthermore, embodiments can take the form of a computer program product(or machine-accessible product) accessible from a computer-usable orcomputer-readable medium providing program code for use by or inconnection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For thepurposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readablemedium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate,propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with theinstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device). Examples ofa computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid-statememory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random accessmemory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and anoptical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compactdisk—read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk—read/write (CD-R/W), andDVD.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing programcode will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectlyto memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code must beretrieved from bulk storage during execution.

The logic as described above may be part of the design for an integratedcircuit chip. The chip design is created in a graphical computerprogramming language, and stored in a computer storage medium (such as adisk, tape, physical hard drive, or virtual hard drive such as in astorage access network). If the designer does not fabricate chips or thephotolithographic masks used to fabricate chips, the designer transmitsthe resulting design by physical means (e.g., by providing a copy of thestorage medium storing the design) or electronically (e.g., through theInternet) to such entities, directly or indirectly. The stored design isthen converted into the appropriate format (e.g., GDSII) for thefabrication.

The resulting integrated circuit chips can be distributed by thefabricator in raw wafer form (that is, as a single wafer that hasmultiple unpackaged chips), as a bare die, or in a packaged form. In thelatter case, the chip is mounted in a single chip package (such as aplastic carrier, with leads that are affixed to a motherboard or otherhigher level carrier) or in a multichip package (such as a ceramiccarrier that has either or both surface interconnections or buriedinterconnections). In any case, the chip is then integrated with otherchips, discrete circuit elements, and/or other signal processing devicesas part of either (a) an intermediate product, such as a motherboard, or(b) an end product.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit ofthis disclosure that the present disclosure contemplates methods andarrangements for establishing application session based securepeer-to-peer links. It is understood that the form of the embodimentsshown and described in the detailed description and the drawings are tobe taken merely as examples. It is intended that the following claims beinterpreted broadly to embrace all variations of the example embodimentsdisclosed.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. An apparatus comprising an integrated circuit tobe used in a station (STA), the integrated circuit to cause the stationto: set an initial transmission window (TW) value for a TW size;determine a selection number; transmit a synch frame within a discoverywindow (DW); and adjust the TW size based on a transmission start timeof the synch frame.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein theintegrated circuit to cause the wireless station to: set the TW sizeaccording to a first function.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, where inthe first function is to increase the TW size.
 24. The apparatus ofclaim 21, wherein the integrated circuit to cause the wireless stationto: set the TW size according to a second function.
 25. The apparatus ofclaim 24, where in the second function is to decrease the TW size. 26.The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the integrated circuit to cause thewireless station to: determine the selection number by generating arandom number that is an integer between a minimum TW size and a currentTW size.
 27. The apparatus of claim 21 comprising an antenna array. 28.The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the station comprising: a logic tocause the station to: initialize a variable transmission window (TW) fora TW size; determine a selection number; transmit a discovery frame at astart of n-th discovery window (DW); and adjust the TW size based on atransmission start time of the synch frame.
 29. The apparatus of claim28, wherein the logic comprising: a Medium Access Control (MAC) sublayerlogic.
 30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the MAC sublayer logiccomprising: a synch logic to determine the synch frame.
 31. Theapparatus of claim 28, wherein the logic comprising: a physical sublayerlogic.
 32. A computer program product comprising one or more tangiblecomputer readable non-transitory storage media comprisingcomputer-executable instructions operable to, when executed by at leastone logic, enable the at least one logic to: set an initial transmissionwindow (TW) value for a TW size; determine a selection number; transmita synch frame within a discovery window (DW); and adjust the TW sizebased on a transmission start time of the synch frame.
 33. The computerproduct program of claim 32, wherein the instructions enable the logicto: set the TW size according to a first function.
 34. The computerproduct program of claim 33, where in the first function is to increasethe TW size.
 35. The computer product program of claim 32, wherein theinstructions enable the logic to: set the TW size according to a secondfunction.
 36. The computer product program of claim 35, where in thesecond function is to decrease the TW size.
 37. The computer productprogram of claim 32, wherein the instructions enable the logic to:determine the selection number by generating a random number that is aninteger between a minimum TW size and a current TW size.
 38. Thecomputer product program of claim 32, wherein the logic comprising: aMedium Access Control (MAC) sublayer logic.
 39. The computer productprogram of claim 38, wherein the MAC sublayer logic comprising: a synchlogic to determine the synch frame.
 40. The computer product program ofclaim 32, wherein the logic comprising: a physical sublayer logic.